It’s hard to imagine a more concentrated – or delicious – way of enjoying our little red, blue and purple friends, the berries and cherries. This is also a great way to get children to eat berries, which, on their own, they often find too tart. While it’s best to eat fruits and vegetables during their local growing season, it’s fine to make an exception here: the berry season being woefully short and fresh berries often expensive, feel free to make this with frozen berries and enjoy it all year round. Serves 4.
(Recipe from: Zest for Life, The Mediterranean Anti-Cancer Diet.)
- 1.1lb/500g mixed pitted cherries and berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, red- and black currants, blackberries, gooseberries etc.), fresh or frozen
- 7fl oz/scant 1 cup/200ml cherry or red berry juice (or a combination of 4fl oz/½ cup/120ml juice and 2.5fl oz/1/3 cup/80ml red wine for a more grown-up version)
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- grated zest of ½ lemon (untreated)
- 3-4 tbsp acacia honey (more or less to taste)
- some mint leaves for decoration
If using frozen berries, scatter onto a large tray or platter and defrost (about 30 minutes).
Pour juice (or juice/wine mixture, whichever using) into a medium pot, add corn starch, lemon zest and honey and mix. Over medium heat, bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring continually with a balloon whisk until it thickens. Remove from heat, tip in the defrosted berries and stir gently with a spoon to coat these evenly with the thickened juice. Adjust sweetness with honey if necessary, one spoonful at a time.
Spoon berries into a glass serving bowl or individual glasses. Decorate with mint leaves and serve at room temperature or chilled.
If you like, you can serve this with Vanilla cashew cream or topped with plain yogurt thinned with a little milk and flavored with honey and vanilla.
